The Senate passed legislation preventing law enforcement from jailing minors for committing status offenses Tuesday, reviving a 1974 bill meant to curb delinquency.
Both the House and Senate passed versions the bill and will now reconcile them in a conference committee. While similar, the bills differ on status offenses such as skipping school or running away from home. Where the House bill completely strikes language allowing jail time for these offenses, the Senate version allows jail time provided the offense violated a court order.
“Youngsters who encounter the juvenile justice system should be treated safely, fairly and in a manner that encourages greater respect for the law,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a statement. “The federal juvenile justice program helps states achieve these fundamental goals, but the program hasn’t been updated in more than a decade.”
Nationally, 7,000 minors are jailed each year for committing status offenses, according to a 2016 report from the Campaign for Youth Justice. The legislation would also create a fund of more than $150 million to be granted to states which opt into the act’s monitoring and compliance requirements.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton was the only major opponent of the bill in the Senate. He demanded the chamber include the court order exception to allow some minors to receive jail time. In the past, Cotton halted the bill over including the exception, but now that the chamber has acquiesced, Republican Sen. Rand Paul reportedly considered halting the bill in protest.
The bill now goes to a joint House and Senate conference committee to be finalized and passed with a third vote. If passed, the adjusted 1974 delinquency bill will go into effect for the first time since 2007.
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